One Second Too Late
by Hokata Yuy
Summary: AU What if Keiko didn't make it in time? The Tale of Yusuke's afterlife. Chap 4 up!
1. I'm really dead now?

**One Second Too Late**

By: Hokata Yuy

~~~~~

Dong…Dong… Dong… 

The twelfth bell slowly faded away, leaving the night air back in silence.

"D…did she make it…?" Botan softly asked.  Koenma didn't respond.  All they could do was wait outside… and hope.

~~

Keiko clenched the sheets tightly, tears filling her eyes, "Yusuke… wake up…  Please wake up!"  She buried her face in the covers as she began to cry next to the boy that wouldn't wake up.

~~

"I… I'm still here," he said, looking down at his body, still resting in bed.  "She didn't make it."  He floated down behind Keiko, his feet 'touching' the ground.  Incredibly… he began to laugh.  He laughed so hard Botan and Koenma could hear him outside.

"Oh thank god!  She did it!" Botan cheered as Yusuke walked out the open door and onto the balcony, laughing all the way.  "Way to go Yusuke!" she said as she flew towards him on her ore, having gotten used to being able to touch him the past month as a spirit.  He kept laughing, even as she tightly hugged around his neck.

It took her a moment to realize, "I… I can still touch you…"  Her arms fell off of him, "it… didn't work."

The laughing hiccupped once, "What's 55 years?"  Another hiccup, "I can wait!  It's not like I'll have anything better to do."  His laughter was then choked by his throat tightening up as the first sob escaped, then tears ran down his face.  Doing the only thing she could thing to do, Botan took him in her arms as he started to openly cry against her shoulder.

After a few minutes, Yusuke finally collected himself enough to stop crying.  Pulling away from Botan, wiping his eyes on the back of his sleeve, "I guess this is it then… one last look at the world.  It's time for me to go to heaven or hell or whatever."  His eyes shimmered, but he didn't let the tears fall."

            "I'm so sorry Yusuke… but you're right, you can't stay in this world like this any more," she said solemnly, trying not to let her emotions come out.  She had to be professional about this… it was just another soul to Spirit World… not her friend she'd spent the last month with.

            "But," he said, looking up at her, "can I get just one more day?  I just want to tell my friends goodbye… Please?"  He felt his regret boiling to unfocused anger and clinched his fists and his eyes closed.  "Please!  I won't see them for over 50 years!  This is my last chance to tell them anything!!  You've got to let me have just one more night!" he shouted, his body shaking with all the anger out of his system.

            "I would give you all the time I could…" she started slowly, "but I can only let you stay if I have permission from higher up."  Looking up to the sky for Koenma, she found him standing on the railing, hands behind his back, his brow furrowed in thought.

After a minute of silence he softly spoke, "Normally no-one is ever allowed time to say goodbye to loved ones, it would cause havoc on both sides of this realm," he paused, "But I believe fate has been far too cruel to you, time after time."

            Yusuke couldn't help but sneer, "No shit, first I'm killed saving a kid that wouldn't have died in the first place, then I use my spirit beast to save Keiko from dying in a fire to save me, then my energy is so screwy I only get one chance every 55 years.  Then Keiko's mom passing out just when I needed her  Yeah I'd say that's a little spiteful."

            "Yusuke!  Shh!" Botan tried to quiet him, putting her finger of her lips.

            "It's alright, the boy's got a right to be pissed, I would be too."  He looked back to Yusuke, "But in this case I will grant you 24 more hours in this world.  You have until 12:04 tomorrow night, after that you're to go with Botan to the Spirit World, agreed?"

            "Agreed… and thank you," he said quietly, his head bowed partly out of respect and partly from exhaustion.  

            "Well then," Koenma said in his normal voice, "I'll be seeing both of you later."  He jumped off the railing, and faded away slowly.  

            As Yusuke and Botan silently stood there, they could hear Keiko crying in his room, still weakly trying to wake him up.

            Eventually Botan broke the silence, "So… what are you going to do first?" she quietly asked him.

            He looked down in thought, "I'm not sure…  Keiko won't be asleep any time soon.  My mom is going to be so drunk she wouldn't think it was real even if she _was_ asleep.  I guess I'll go see Kuwabara first."  Then looking up in thought, then to Botan, "…do you know where he lives…?"

            She shakes her head, "Whenever we needed him it was daytime and he was out in the open."

            Letting out a frustrated tic, "Damnit… Looks like I'll have to follow him tomorrow to see where he lives and have to say goodbye to all three in a row."

            "Are you sure you'll have enough time for that?"

            "Yeah sure, besides, I hate long goodbyes," he said with a small smirk.

            'Well… thankfully it doesn't look like this had traumatized him too much,' she thought.  She asked another question, "and what about until morning?  What are you going to do?" 

            "Hmm.." he put his hand on his chin thoughtfully, "why don't you tell me about Spirit World?  After all, I'm going to be there for a while, I should at least know something about it."

            She nodded, "Good idea!  Actually thinking ahead for once?  Maybe it's true what they say, 'Death changes people'" she giggled.

            "Oh very funny!  And I'm not dead!" he roared, "But you will be if you keep it up!"  She kept laughing and floated up to the roof of the building, which Yusuke slowly followed after, sitting cross-legged next to her in the air.

            "Ok..  Where should I start?"  she thought to herself, unknowingly mimicking Yusuke's posture from before.  "Oh yes!  I know just what to begin with."

With that she started telling the new resident of Spirit World about what to expect, the laws, and the 'people' there.

Wow.  I actually did an entire chapter (and starter) in one night.  That's a first.

Anyhow, I kinda got tired of seeing all the same couplings and stuff, besides, in every fic I've seen, Yusuke's alive.   

I thought this little thing up a long time ago, but just now got enough inspiration to write it all down. Before I started this was going to just be a one-shot, but I can think of 2 more chapters to write, maybe more if reviews are inspiring ;)

-Hokata


	2. So long, my friend

**One Second Too Late**

By: Hokata Yuy

~~~~~

As the sun slowly rose over the horizon, Botan was finally finishing telling her summery of Spirit World.  "Oh yes," she remembered, "When we arrive Koenma will assign you a specific duty that best suits your abilities-"

"Whoa whoa whoa!!!" he yelled, standing up, "You mean I've got to get a job even when I'm dead!?  I thought when you die you get like 40 virgins, an island paradise, your own cloud and harp or something like that!"

            She covered her face behind her hand and groaned, "Those are all just happy little thoughts created by men.  I told you; basically the Mortal World and Spirit World aren't that different!  Everyone needs to serve a purpose, or else we'd end up like the Mortal World.  No offense," she added giggling, waving her hand trying to calm him.  Waiting until he sat back down before continuing.  Propping his head up with his hand, he listened, but still grumbled to himself.

            "I don't see why you're getting so worked up about it.  It's not like you have anything else to do except sit on your ass all day," she said, emphasizing this by poking him in side with her oar. 

            Letting out a growl he glared at her out of the side of his vision, making her take her oar away… and float another foot away just to be safe.  Down below they heard a door open as they both floated over the edge to see whom it was.

~~~

            Keiko had fallen asleep at Yusuke's side, crying even in her sleep.  When she awoke in the morning, her tears had wet the sheets where her head had been   Doing the only thing she could think of, since she didn't know where his mother was, she had carefully placed a white cloth over his face.  With her head down, she slowly picked up each of her shoes from where she had flung them off last night.  'Stupid,' she thought, 'if I hadn't wasted time taking off my shoes I could have made it…'  Feeling fresh tears start to form she shook her head quickly, trying to stop thinking about it… for now.

            As she quietly shut the door to the apartment her cell phone went off from inside her bag.  (A/N: even if they were the size of a brick back then…)  "Hello?" she quietly asked.

"Oh Keiko!  Thank god!" the sound of her father's voice exploded from the speaker, "We were so worried about you!  They said you were with your mother then you suddenly ran out of the hospital before I could get there!  Where are you??  Are you ok!?"

            "…Yeah dad, I'm ok.  My friend was having an emergency…" she said looking down at the ground.

            "I see.  Well I hope they're ok…" her father said, less worry and a bit more compassion in his voice.

            "……I'll be home in a few minutes.  Bye," she quickly hung-up before he could say anything more, turning off the phone and putting it in her bag.  "Oh Yusuke… If you can hear me, I'm sorry!  I'm so sorry!!" she cried to the sky, then started running down the stairs and out the building, before she began crying again.

~~~

            "Aww… It's so sweet… in a sad way," Botan said cutely.

            "Just shut up." Yusuke growled and floated away, towards Kuwabara's school, glad knew at least _that_ much about the oaf.  While Botan slowly followed behind him, frowning, 'I didn't know it was such a touchy subject…' she wondered.

            After a few minutes of flying over the town they found his school.  It was roughly the same as Yusuke's, which actually surprised him.  "I expected some run-down, spray-paint covered hell-hole," he commented, slowly moving towards the ground.

            From behind him, Botan added, "Well if he _was_ from that kind of school, don't you think he would have been a better fighter?"

            "Who?  Kuwabara?" he asked looking over his shoulder, then laughed, "all someone has to do is show him a kitten and that dope starts getting all teary eyed!"

~~~

            A few blocks away, said dope and his three friends were walking to school.  "AACHOOO!!" Kuwabara's sneezing filling the air, "Aw man… I don't why I've been sneezing so much lately," he said after blowing his nose on a tissue.

            "Maybe you're allergic to cats?  You _have_ been spending a lot of time with that one you found last week," one of his friends suggested.

            "No way!  My luck might not be great but it's not that bad!" he grinned over his shoulder at his friends, who laughed, not really believing him but playing along.

~~~

            "I think I see him!" Botan said, pointing to the wall that surrounded the school.

            "Where?  I don't see anything.  Just a rat on top of that wall," he glanced over at her, "I think you need glasses…"

            "I think _you're_ the one needing glasses.  That's not a rat, it's Kuwabara's hair," she said proudly with a smirk.

            After squinting his eyes for a second, "Holy crap!  It _is_!"  After seeing something like this he couldn't help but burst out laughing.  Even after Kuwabara came around the corner into view, sneezing once again. While behind him, Yusuke couldn't see Botan smile at him, 'Maybe he's taking this better than I gave him credit…'

~~~

            And so Yusuke and Botan spent the day floating outside the school, tracking Kuwabara through the large windows.  Toward the later half of school Kuwabara had a gym class, which Yusuke and Botan covered their eyes with both hands and their sleeves as he and the other guys changed.  After the guys left the classroom, Botan started floating after them… then noticed that Yusuke wasn't with her.  She flew back towards the classroom, and found him floating in front of the window, grinning ear-to-ear as the girls came in to change.

            "Yusuke!" she yelled and swung her oar at him, clipping the left side of his head.

            "Ow!  Damnit what's the big deal!?  I'm dead now, what harm is it going to do taking a peek at the last humans (well… high school girls) I'll see for 55 years!?" he screamed, 'standing' in front of her.

            "Because if I let you go around peeking at girls during your incredibly extended time on earth, my record will get a nice big red stamp saying 'UNRESPONSABLE' on it!" she yelled back, 'standing' toe-to-toe with him.

            "So I can't look at humans anymore eh?  What about you spirits?" he said with a look Botan couldn't think of as anything but evil and perverted…. earning him a matching oar mark on the right side of his head.  After that she 'dragged' a stunned Yusuke by the collar back to follow Kuwabara.  'Yep, he's still the same old Yusuke,' she thought grudgingly.

~~~

            The final bell rang, releasing the students.  Both stalkers waited from the roof, looking in the crowd of blue uniforms for a redheaded rat, which the thought of still made them both grin.  "Ah, there he goes," Yusuke said as he floated off, Botan following him.  "I wonder where his friends are?" she wondered.

            "Well I remember one of them had a job, who knows?  Maybe the others got jobs too," he said with a shrug. 

            They followed him to the arcade, and watched him play mostly racing games.  During the third race on one game he finally was in first place.  "Oh yeah!  Don't mess with the great Kuwabara!" he shouted to the other racers, all of which were between 10 and 13 years old.

            "You know... that's really sad," Botan commented.

            "What is?  The fact he's racing little kids?  Or that he got lapped by them in the past two games?" Yusuke said laughing.  

"Yusuke!  That's not very nice!" she scolded, smiling even as she said it.

"Hmm..  let's see if he can still feel us," he said with a grin and punched Kuwabara through the head, making him freeze and spinout his car, crashing and loosing the game.

            "Whoa… I just got that creepy feeling again," he said in a shaky voice, quickly running out of the arcade.

            "Ok, maybe _now_ he'll go home," Yusuke muttered as the followed him down alleys and through backyards.  But of course they ended up in an abandoned lot, where I half-constructed building stood.  "It's not exactly cozy," Botan remarked, scratching her head.

            After looking left and right a few times to see if he was being followed, he slowly walked into the building.  "What do you think he's doing?" she asked, which Yusuke could only shrug.

            They moved closer and could hear his voice through the incomplete walls.  "Oh you like that huh?  How about some more then?  Hehe.  Wow, you sure can hold a lot for someone so small."

            With red faces Botan and Yusuke looked at each other, "You don't think…" she started.

            "No way… h-he couldn't be…"

            But as they got closer they could hear more, "That's it, use your tongue, just like that….  Haha!  You got it all over your face, you look so cute like that… that's it, make sure to lick it all off or it'll get sticky and leave a mess."

            "Are you sure?  Because that sounds a lot like.." Botan asked, gripping the shoulder of Yusuke's shirt as they got to the room he was in.

            "I-I'm telling you, there's no-way in hell he would…. He couldn't be.." he answered, his voice shaking.  They slowly leaned in the doorway, fearing what they'd see.

            What they found was Kuwabara on his knees facing a corner.  Now with Botan clenching his shirt with both hands, they kept watching, faces red and hearts beating rapidly (A/N: …do spirits have hearts?  Or blood for that matter?).  "I'm sorry, but that's all I've got today, don't worry, I'll come back with more tomorrow, I promise!" he said standing up and turned back towards the door.

            When they could finally see what he'd been hiding they both gasped… and burst out laughing.  A tiny kitten sat in the corner with a bowl next to it and an empty milk carton tossed a few feet away.  It started sadly mewing to his back, "I'm sorry, but I don't have anymore, I told you, I'll be back tomorrow," Kuwabara said, his eyes watering up before he took off running out the building.

            Meanwhile his watchers were still trying to catch their breath from too much laugh, their faces still red.  "I-I can't believe you thought that he had a-" Botan said between gasps.

            "Me-me!?  You should have seen yourself!  I think I've got bruises from you digging your fingers in my skin!" Yusuke countered, still laughing himself.  Their laughter slowly faded away and they stayed in the silence a few seconds before realizing their 'pray' was escaping.  They quickly flew out of the lot, chasing after the fleeing boy, still smiling lightly.

            Once they left the maze of alleys they finally came to a stop in front of the building he lives in.  "About damned time," Yusuke grumbled, "it took us all day just to get here!?  I can see my house from here!  Literally, look!"  he said pointing to a charred building less than a mile away.

            "At least that means we don't have to waste time for much longer, right?" she added, floating towards his room.  They waited as he ate dinner, watched tv, tried to beat Shizuru at a racing game (loosing terribly).  Finally it was time for him to go to sleep, the lights when out and the gave him about ten minutes.

            "Ok.. He should be out by now," Botan whispered, "go ahead and see if you can talk to him now."  With that she pushed him towards the apartment window.

            "It's not like he can hear us you know!" Yusuke shouted before slipping through the glass and into his room.  "Ok.. let's see.. how does this go again?" he muttered, putting his hand on Kuwabara's forehead.

~~~

            "Hey wait!  Come back!" Kuwabara shouted at a girl who's face he couldn't see, he was finally about to catch her!  Finally!  After a week of the same thing over and over he would finally-

            "Hey stupid!" Urameshi's voice shouted from behind him, "You'll never catch her," he said with a laugh.

            When he turned to yell at Urameshi, he realized what he'd done and snapped his head back to look for his unknown girl to see she was gone.  "Darn you Urameshi!" he yelled, clenching his fist, "I almost had her!  The girl of my dreams!"

            "You idiot!  This _is_ your dream!"

            "Wait.. then that means I'm dreaming you…  AAAHH!!  This can't be!" he screamed, pulling his hair.  "I mean, I remember I dreamt of kissing you once when you were all sparkly gold and stuff.. but I thought that was my mind play tricks on me!!"

            "Hey!  I don't know what you dream on your own, but I'm actually in your dream stupid!  Now if you can _shut up_, I've got something important to tell you!"

            This got his attention and he stopped screaming and dancing around, "What's so important you make me stop chasing my girl??"

            All the humor left Yusuke's face and he looked down slightly, "I… I'm not coming back to life.  Well, at least not right away…"

            "Wh-what do you mean?  I thought you said you were coming back real soon?  What happened..?" he asked confused.

            "Yeah well… that plan screwed up.  But that's not the point… What matters is..  I'm not going to see you again for a long time."

            "Huh?  What's a long time?  You mean when I die??  That'd _better_ be a long long way away then!"

            Despite the tension, Yusuke couldn't help chuckling, "Yeah, if that was the only way to see you then I'd never want to see your ugly mug again, but I have a chance of coming back still.  The problem is… it won't be for 55 years."

            "So…you're saying.." he said slowly, thinking it through, "the next time I'll see you, you'll be some wrinkly old geezer?"

            "Haha… yeah that's right, when we'll meet again we'll both have long beards and bad backs." Urameshi smiled, holding his hand down at stomach level to show how long his beard would be.

            "Well, I don't care if it's 55 or 75 years, I'll still fight you and kick your ass one day!" Kuwabara grinned, holding up his fist, his eyes just now starting to shimmer as it fully hit him.

            "Sure you will," he grinned and nodded mockingly, "I'll even toss my cane aside and let you keep your walker to make it fair."

            Kuwabara reached his hand out, sniffling a bit, "I'm looking forward to it…"

            Yusuke shook his hand tightly, "Yeah, me too.."  They patted each other on the back with their free hand.  As they let go and Yusuke turned and started to walk away, he stopped and looked over his shoulder, "One last thing…"

            "Yeah?  What is it?" he said looking up, still trying to hold back his tears.

            "Can you look after my mom… and Keiko…?  Since I can't do it… I want you to…" he said softly, smiling.

            "Y-yeah, I'll protect them no matter what, but in 55 years you'd better get your ass back here and do it yourself ok?" his voice was shaking and the tears started falling down his face.  "You're the only real friend I've had… I'm going to miss you Urameshi."

            "Yeah… me too," he quietly said.  With that he kept walking until he faded away, leaving Kuwabara alone in the middle of nowhere.

~~~

            Outside Botan silently waited, hovering on her oar until she saw Yusuke float out of the building and towards her, "How did it go?" she asked lightly.

            "Oh you know, he took it like the man he says he is," he said smiling a little bit.

            "I see…" she trailed off, "Well you still have 2 hours left…. Where to next?"

            "… I guess I'll go see my mom now," he said floating past her towards his temporary apartment.

            As he passed her, Botan could see the waver in his eyes, and couldn't help but feel helpless for him, "How are you holding up?"

            "I'm fine, don't worry about it," he answered bluntly.

            As they floated she lightly put her hand on his back, rubbing softly.  While he didn't say he liked it, he didn't try to make her stop either as the traveled to his second stop, neither saying anything.

~~~

ooooowww!!!  My hands!! X_x  I've been writing for over 5 hours straight now, but I got another chapter done in one night!  Go me!!

Ok.. so I can't remember if Yusuke and Kuwabara went to the same school or not, I don't think so because they never saw each other there.  Um… what else..?  Oh yeah, and I couldn't help but pick on the poor oaf so much, he's my second favorite character and he's just so much fun to poke fun at ^_^

And only one of you reviewers got part of my future goals right ;)

I love AU stories because bad things don't happen if you don't want them too…. Which means… I don't have to write a single word about Hiei or Kurama!!  MWHAHAAA!!!!

And so, before I pass out into a coma…. REVIEW ME PLEASE!  This is the most fun I've had with a fic ever J


	3. Make me proud son

**One Second Too Late**

By: Hokata Yuy

~~~~~

            As they started approaching Yusuke's house Botan thought of something, "Are you sure she's going to be home tonight?  She didn't come home last night.."

            He didn't look toward her, just straight ahead and nodded, "Yeah, she leaves for the bar a lot, but she never spends two nights in a row without coming home.  She may be irresponsible… but she's not uncaring."

            "I see…  She's not as bad as I thought.  That's good," she said with a nod, then thought of something else, "Yusuke… I don't think I've ever heard you say something about you're father.  What was he like?"

            "I don't want to talk about it," he said sharply, speeding ahead of her.  'I didn't know he was so touchy about that subject,' she thought curiously, not realizing she'd slowed to a stop.  "C'mon!  I don't have all night you know!" he yelled over his shoulder when he noticed she stopped following him.  "Oh!  Right, sorry," she jumped slightly and flew after him.

            When they got close to the window they could barely see inside, all the lights were out and from what they could see, nothing had changed from last night.  "Um.." Botan started.

            "Look," he sighed, "remember what my house looked like before it burned down?  She doesn't exactly do housework.  Well… here goes."  He slowly floated through the window into his mother's room.  Taking a look around her noticed an empty bottle of brandy next to her bed, "Aw crap..  I just hope you're sober in your dreams," he muttered, putting his hand on her forehead.

~~~

            "Huh..?  What the hell is this?" Yusuke asked, scratching his head.  He had expected to be in another field, or a bar, or something.  But what he entered was a white room, with only two things inside it, his mother in a chair… looking over the bed his body had been laying in.  "Mom…?  What's going on?" he said looking around the room.

            "Just when I thought… you were coming back," she softly said, not looking away from the empty bed, "I lose you again…"

            "H-how'd you know?  I mean... that's why I came, to tell you that."

            She looked over her shoulder, her eyes were blood-shot and her cheeks puffy, signs that she'd been crying.  "Y-Yusuke!" she cried, standing up hard enough to knock the chair over and ran over to him, squeezing him tightly.  "You're back!  I was so scared!  Keiko said we'd lost you, that'd you'd never be able to come back!" she bawled.

            Slowly he put his arms around her and patted her back, "Yeah yeah, you didn't loose me, I can come back.  But there's a problem…"

            She put her hands on his shoulders and held him at arm's length, staring hard at him, "If its you don't want to come back, then… I'll kick your ass until your senses come back!" she yelled, getting him in a headlock.

            "Own ow ow!!  Let go!  That's not it!" he yelled, squirming out of her grasp and moved a few feet away, "It's that, because of some energy-type wave pattern… thing.  Apparently everyone has one and mine's the screwiest of them all.  So… it won't be aligned or charged or something for a long time."

            "What's 'a long time'?  A few weeks?  Months?  Years?"

            "Yeah, years.  55 years to be exact…" he said with a sad smirk.

            "55 years… I'll be 84 by the time you come back!" she cried, putting her hands on the sides of her face.

            "More like 90, I did the math," he commented, arms crossed over his chest.  He ended up with a lump on the back of his head before he knew it was coming.

            "Don't talk back," she growled, clenching her fist in front of her, "but what am I suppose to do for 50 years?  Just keep you locked in some backroom in the house?  Hmm.. maybe I could just bury you in the cemetery with a little air hole?  Yeah…  Then I wouldn't have to get a bigger place and I'd only pay for it once!"

            "Hey!!  That's my body, not some statue you can just put in storage!!" he screamed, "If you do that I swear I'll break out of my coffin and piss on your grave!"

            After another lightning-fast lump on his head, "Don't interrupt."

            "Whatever," he growled, rubbing his head.

            She turned to him, serious this time, "So what's going to happen to the you I'm talking to?  Are you just going to float around here and haunt me forever?"

            He looked to the sides and put his hands in his pockets, scowling, "I wish.  I have to go to a place called 'Spirit World,' it's where every human goes when they die.  Once I get there, they're going to give me a job, A JOB!  Can you believe that crap?  You die and get put to work!"

            She started laughing, "With you're attitude I bet you'll get to be a janitor or a garbage man!"  Picturing Yusuke (in the crayon drawings we all love) scrubbing toilets and picking up bags of trash made her laugh even harder.

            "Oh very funny, not like you'll get any better," he growled, "That's it, I'm leaving, I said what I wanted to."  With that he turned around and started walking off, but was stopped by her grabbing onto the back of his collar.

            "You're going to leave your mother without saying goodbye?  Haven't I taught you better than that…?" she said, putting her arms around his shoulders.  "Be safe and come back to us Yusuke.." she whispered, starting to cry.

            "Don't worry, I will… but mom… can you lay off the drinking for now?  I mean, it's not like you have me here anymore to pick you up when you pass out on the floor.  So be safe," he said, smiling just a little.

            "I know, that's why I quit tonight, I poured out everything in the apartment as soon as I got home.  After all, I don't want to see you for 55 years, not until you sit up in bed and say 'Did you miss me?'"  

            He simply nodded, "Goodbye, mom.  I love you."  He slowly broke out of her hug and started walking towards the door of the white room.

            "I love you too son… make me proud, I want to hear the Urameshi name as famous as King Yama when I die," she grinned, the tears building in her eyes.

            He looked back at her, his hand on the doorknob, "Don't worry about that, I'll tell you all about it when I get back."  With a tearful smile he opened the door.

~~~

             "How did it go?" Botan asked as the floated out of the apartment and back towards her.

            "I just hope she doesn't bury my body like she said," he smirked.

            "W-what!?  You've got to stop her!  I mean really!" she fumed and started flying towards his window, about to give her a piece of her mind.

            "Hey whoa!" he laughed, putting his hands on her shoulders before she past him, "I'm just kidding, I know she won't do anything like that."

            "Don't scare me like that!  I really thought she was going to," she pouted and floated away.  "Besides, you wouldn't look cute covered in dirt," she looked over her shoulder with a wink.

            Yusuke blinked, "…What do you mean by that!?  Hey get back here!  And stop laughing!" he yelled and chased after the giggling reaper, yelling at her all the way as they made their way towards their final target; Keiko's house.

~~~

Sorry about missing my update times the past two nights ^^;  got stuck talking all night.  Anyways, can anyone guess what I have planned in the more long-run yet?

Read&Review!   (and email me if want to complain more than in just your review:  canyonairo@aol.com )

Later!


	4. Final farewells

**One Second Too Late**

By: Hokata Yuy

~~~~~

            "This is it, last stop," Botan announced once they stopped over the ramen shop Keiko's family owned.  "Hmm.. looks like you only have 15 minutes left," she noted, looking at a large clock over the street.

            "Yeah yeah… don't remind me," he muttered and made his way down to Keiko's room.  He looked around inside, taking in the little things, since this would be the last time he'll see it for a long time.  "It still looks too girly," he muttered and stood next to her bed.  Her hair was a mess and it looked like she hadn't left her room all day.  With a sigh he put his hand to her forehead…

~~~

            The first thing he realized was someone was crying.  He looked around and saw he was in a grassy field, every few seconds a cold wind pasted over him, ruffling his clothes.  After a walking up a hill he saw where the crying was coming from, Keiko was slumped in front of a lone gravestone.  As he got closer he could make out what the grave said, "Here lies Yusuke Urameshi, who nearly came back to life until Keiko screwed it up and killed him (again)."

            "Ouch, that's a bit harsh don't you think," he smirked.  Slowly she looked up at him wiping the tears from her eyes, "Y-yusuke..?  Is that you?"

            "Of course it's me, who'd you expect Kuwabara?" he said, putting his hands on his hips… hoping she didn't actually have the oaf in her dreams.  Before he could think about that anymore she suddenly wrapped her arms around him with surprising strength.  "I'm sorry!  I'm so sorry Yusuke!  I messed up and now you really ARE dead!" she wailed against his shoulder.

            "Hey hey, I'm not dead… yet," he said reassuringly, slowly putting his arms around her, which was a very new thing for him.  "You'll just have to try again later," he smiled, deciding to hold off the bad news for a while.

            "You… you mean that wasn't the final time!?" she gasped, looking up at him, then suddenly roughly pushed herself away from him.  "You jerk!  You made me worry for nothing!" she yelled, her hands balling into fists at her sides.

            Waving his hands in front of himself in a calming motion, he continued, "Yeah it's not the last chance… but the next time is."

            "What do you mean?  When is it?" she asked, her fists unclenching as she calmed down a bit.

            "…That's just it, we've got to wait 55 years before I get a second chance," he said calmly, then scratched the back of his head jokingly, "And if we miss next time, I don't' think either of us will be alive for another 55 years don't you?"

            "F-fifty five years..?  Are you sure?" she asked in a stunned voice, putting one hand on the gravestone to keep her balance a bit.  "I'll be an old lady by then… I mean I could have –grandkids- by then-" she stopped herself and looked over at Yusuke, embarrassed. 

            "Honestly, I won't know about anything you do until I'm back in the living world again.  I'm going to heaven, can you believe that?" he said with a laugh, mentally adding, 'Might as well just say heaven then explain the whole Spirit World thing again…'

            "Funny, I thought you'd go to hell as an ogre or something," she smiled, trying to hide her sadness.

            "Oh yeah, I'm dying of laughter," he grumbled and stuck his hands in his pockets.  "I just came by to tell you that I'd be back and mark your calendar, 'cuz I'm coming back.  So…" he paused and turned away, looking over his shoulder, "I'll see ya then, make sure to take care of yourself."

            "Yusuke wait!" she shouted and ran towards him.  As he turned around she leaned up and kissed him, catching him by surprise, which quickly wore off and he returned it.  After a minute she slowly pulled away, "I just… um.." she tried to say, blushing furiously.

            Yusuke just smirked and looked at her, "You'd –better- give me a kiss that good when I come back."  He looked at his wrist as if he had a watch there, "Well… I think I'm almost out of time, so I'll see ya around," he smiled and started walking away.  "Oh one more thing…" he called without looking.

            "Y-yes?" she asked, looking up at him.

            "Don't let anyone sneak a peek at your panties, only –I- can do that," he said with a laugh.

            "….Yusuke you pervert!" she screamed and somehow slapped him from where she was standing.

~~~

            The 'real' Yusuke went flying across her room and flew out the window, clutching his cheek.  "Ow!  Damnit how'd that happen!?" he yelled to no-one in particular.  

            "It's –her- dream," Botan called out from above him, "No-one can really explain it."  As he got closer she could see why he was holding his face and started laughing.  "I see that went well, she must have taken it well," she said between fits of laughter.

            "Shut up!  She always does this-" he stopped, realizing his mistake when Botan started laughing harder, clenching her sides.  Crossing his arms and looking to the side he chose to grumble and wait for her to stop.

            After composing herself, she looked at the clock from before then back to him, "Your time's up Yusuke…"

            "I know," he sighed and looked towards the city, "Well, it's been fun but I'm moving on to better things!" he yelled giving the horizon the finger.

            Botan just put her head in her hand and sighed, shaking her head, "Is that really mature?"

            "So what?  Not like anyone can hear me," he smirked and floated up to her.

            "Ahem.." she cleared her throat and pulled out a scroll from her kimono.

            "What's that thing?" he asked, point at the paper.

            "Regulations," she simply answered and opened the scroll and started reading, "Do you Yusuke Urameshi, hereby accept that you are, for all intents and purposes, dead?  That you may not return to this world as a roaming spirit for the next 54 years and 363 days?  Any violations of this agreement will result in punishment determined by either King Yama or Koenma?"

            "Um…  yeah I guess so?" he answered, slightly confused.

            "Good, that's all settled then," she said happily, throwing the paper over her shoulder disappearing in a puff of smoke.  "We all have to make sure that spirits know they can't come back to this world.  It's really a pain," she sighed with a shrug.

            "Um… what was that part about punishment by King Yama?" he asked with a bit of fear in his voice.

            "Oh nevermind that now!" she giggled and slid further up her oar, "have a seat, I don't want you falling off now, that would look bad on my record."

            "At least I get a little more respect than last time," he muttered and sat on the wide end of the oar. He had to put one hand on her shoulder for balance when they started flying through the air, rapidly speeding up.

            "Oh do shut up Yusuke, I –can- have you hang off from one hand again," she smirked evilly over her shoulder at him.  His grip on her increased from that memory, making her laugh.

            "Not funny.  I'll get you back for this Botan," he growled just before they hit the swirling portal to Spirit World in the sky.

~~~

Yeah yeah, I know you Yusuke/Keiko lovers are going to complain about it being so short.  I honestly don't know how to re-do the same basic thing 3 times in a row without reusing ideas, that and I don't read Y/K fics so I don't know how to make them act towards each other ^^

But now, enough of the sad stuff!  Now I get to have fun! :D

And now lets see if any of you can guess what job Yusuke's going to be stuck with the next 55 years… good luck ;)


End file.
